I'm not implying there are monopolies, it's a fact. Literal intra-league competition is irrelevant; aside from a few major markets with multiple franchises, tea

I'm not implying there are monopolies, it's a fact. Literal intra-league competition is irrelevant; aside from a few major markets with multiple franchises, teams in a league generally don't compete directly with each other for fans. It's unlikely that fans are going to switch to a remote competitor, that's why they call it the home team. People generally root for the teams where they grew up, or that their family has some connection to. And suggesting that other sports are commercially equivalent alternatives is like saying a monopoly in the automotive market is OK because there are trains.